Thulani Caleb Serero (born 11 April 1990) is a South African

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Al Jazira and the South African national team. Prior to joining Al Jazira, he played for

Ajax Cape Town Cape Town Spurs F.C. (formerly known as Ajax Cape Town) is a South African professional football club based in Parow in the city of Cape Town that plays in the National First Division. Dutch Eredivisie club AFC Ajax was their parent club and ...

in the South African

Premier Soccer League Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

, and

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

and Vitesse in the Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

Club career

Ajax Cape Town

Born in Mapetla,

Soweto Soweto () is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western Townships''. Formerly a s ...

, Serero is a product of the

's youth academy having been promoted to the first team in 2008, making his debut under then head coach

Craig Rosslee Craig William Rosslee (born 1 January 1970 in Cape Town) is a former South African association football player and manager. Rosslee enjoyed success as a player with Cape Town Spurs, Hellenic and Santos. He made his league debut for Cape Town S ...

. He made a total of 11 appearances in the regular 2008–09 PSL season, and managed to score four times, helping his side to a 7th-place finish by the end of the season. The following season saw Serero become the first choice playmaker at the Cape club, making a total of 25 appearances during the regular season, and scoring twice. Ajax CT would finish in 7th place again that season, with Serero gaining much attention from the local media for his performances on the pitch. During the 2010–11 season, under

Foppe de Haan Foppe Geert de Haan (, born 26 June 1943) is a Dutch association football, football coach. He is known for his long association with Friesland, Frisian club SC Heerenveen. De Haan was the manager of the Tuvalu national football team during 2011 ...

, Serero helped the Cape side to a second place regular season finish scoring 11 league goals, and helped his team to reach the finals of the

Telkom Knockout The Telkom Knockout was a South African professional football knockout competition which comprised the 16 teams in the South African Premier Soccer League. The competition was established in 1982 and was first known as the Datsun Challenge. Unde ...

tournament. At the end of the season he was awarded a number of accolades, including

PSL Footballer of the Year The PSL Footballer of the Year in South African football is awarded to the most outstanding player of the season across the domestic league, the South African Premier Division, and the three major cup competitions, the MTN 8, the Telkom Knockout a ...

PSL Player of the Season The PSL Player of the Season in South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic O ...

, PSL Players' Player of the Season and the ABSA Premiership Red Hot Young Player award. On 22 May 2011, he was signed by

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the l ...

for €2.5 million.

AFC Ajax

Serero had had several trials with parent club

in the preceding years. On 22 May 2011 it was announced that he had signed a four-year contract with Ajax and he stated it was 'a dream come true'. He made his debut for Ajax on 7 August 2011 coming on as a substitute player in the match against

De Graafschap VBV De Graafschap () is a professional football club from Doetinchem, Netherlands, playing in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football. It was formed on 1 February 1954 and they play their home games at the De Vijverberg stadium. ...

. He only played in a total of 6 matches in his first season with Ajax due to an injury. He scored his first goal for AFC Ajax in the home win against NAC Breda on 25 August 2012. Two weeks later he scored two goals against

SC Heerenveen Sportclub Heerenveen (; West Frisian: Sportklub It Hearrenfean) is a Dutch football club from Heerenveen. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top level of football in the Netherlands. History Sportclub Heerenveen was founded on 20 July ...

, receiving a red card and being sent off in the same match. On 1 September 2013 Serero made his debut in the starting 11 of Ajax, replacing

Christian Eriksen Christian Dannemann Eriksen (born 14 February 1992) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Manchester United and the Denmark national team. He is renowned for his vision, technique, passing, and fre ...

who had just left for

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

, playing in the midfield. On 5 August 2013 he made his debut in the

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the ...

, playing for the reserves team

Jong Ajax Jong Ajax () (''English: Young Ajax''), also referred to as Ajax II or Ajax 2 is a Dutch association football team, the reserve team of Ajax. It is based in Amsterdam and competes in the Dutch Eerste Divisie. History Jong Ajax (''formerly more ...

, who had recently been promoted. The match ended in a 2–0 victory against

Telstar Telstar is the name of various communications satellites. The first two Telstar satellites were experimental and nearly identical. Telstar 1 launched on top of a Thor-Delta rocket on July 10, 1962. It successfully relayed through space the fi ...

. On 26 November 2013 he scored his first international goal for Ajax in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

, when he scored the opener of a 2–1 win at home against

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

in the 19th minute. In March 2015, he was associated with a move to

AC Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seaso ...

. His contract at

was not renewed making him a free agent at the end of June 2017.

Vitesse

On 14 June 2017, fellow

club Vitesse announced the signing of Serero on a three-year deal.

International career

Serero has played for the South Africa U-20 team. He earned his first cap for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

on 9 February 2011. He came on as a second-half substitute in a friendly against

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. He scored his first ''Bafana Bafana'' goal against Swaziland in a non-friendly match ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He was released from the national team squad due to disciplinary reasons the day before their 2014 World Cup qualification group match against

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

on 7 September 2013. According to

Gordon Igesund Gordon Igesund (born 22 July 1956) is a former South African football player and coach who was most recently the manager of Highlands Park in the Premier Soccer League. Early life Igesund was born in Durban to George Norman Igesund (born 193 ...

, Serero had allegedly stated to the team doctor that he did not want to play in the match in order to avoid risking an injury ahead of an upcoming

game for his club. Serero disputed these claims, stating that he was genuinely injured and therefore wary about participating in the game. On 15 November 2014, Serero scored his first goal for the South African senior team in a 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification match against

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

, scoring in the 37th minute of the 2–1 win at home, thus helping his team secure a berth in the final tournament held in

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...

the next year. Having contributed to his team's placement for the final tournament, Serero was cut from the 23-man selection to represent South Africa in the final tournament under head coach

Ephraim Mashaba Ephraim Mashaba (born 6 August 1950) is a South African former soccer player and manager. Career Mashaba managed Vaal Reef Stars until the club was relegated from the South African top-tier. He managed the South Africa national team, but w ...

, having been called up for the 34-man provisional squad prior. He was recalled to the national team in November 2018.

Career statistics

International goals

:''Scores and results list South Africa's goal tally first.''

Honours

Ajax Cape Town * MTN 8 runner-up:

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

runner-up:

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Ajax *

: 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14 *

Johan Cruijff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Al Jazira *

UAE Pro League The UAE Pro League ( ar, دوري المحترفين الإماراتي), known for sponsorship reasons as the ADNOC Pro League, is the top professional football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The first team to win the title was Al ...

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Individual *

: 2011 *

: 2011 * PSL Players' Player of the Season: 2011 * Absa Premiership Red Hot Young Player in

: 2011 * SAFA Young Player of the Year: 2009

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Serero, Thulani 1990 births South African soccer players Living people Association football midfielders Sportspeople from Soweto Association football forwards South Africa international soccer players Cape Town Spurs F.C. players AFC Ajax players Jong Ajax players SBV Vitesse players Al Jazira Club players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players UAE Pro League players South African expatriate soccer players South African expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands South African expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players